Tracy K. Smith Wins James Laughlin Award for a Distinguished Second Book

New York, October 17—Graywolf Press is delighted to announce that poet Tracy K. Smith's book Duende (Graywolf Press, 2007) has been selected by Elizabeth Alexander, Kimiko Hahn, and Terrance Hayes to receive the 2006 James Laughlin Award, a $5,000 prize that recognizes and supports a poet's second book. The Academy of American Poets will host Tracy K. Smith at an awards ceremony and reading on November 8, 2006 in New York.

Jeff Shotts, poetry editor at Graywolf Press, says, “Tracy K. Smith has more than surpassed the promise of her excellent first collection, The Body’s Question. DUENDE is a marvelous bound for a poet willing to risk writing so compellingly outside of herself and into the disturbing vibrations of history. At Graywolf, we’re elated to support Tracy K. Smith’s career and publish her work, which is so deserving of the honor the Academy of American Poets has bestowed with the James Laughlin Award.”

Tracy K. Smith’s bold second poetry collection, DUENDE explores history and the intersections of folk traditions, political resistance, and personal survival. One poem tells of a Ho-Chunk Indian boy separated from his tribe by the government; another, written as a play, gives voice to Ugandan women kidnapped by rebel commanders and forced to become their wives; and others, with lyrical grace, describe the dissolution of a marriage, often against the backdrops of war and political violence. DUENDE gives passionate testament to suppressed cultures, and allows them to sing.

The James Laughlin Award is given to commend and support a poet’s second book of poetry. The award was established by a gift to the Academy from the Drue Heinz Trust in honor of the poet and publisher James Laughlin (1914–1997). Graywolf poets have won five of the last ten awards given. Previous winners from Graywolf Press include The Long Meadow by Vijay Seshadri (2003), Except by Nature by Sandra Alcosser (1998), Donkey Gospel by Tony Hoagland (1997), and Wise Poison by David Rivard (1996).

Tracy K. Smith is the author of The Body’s Question, published by Graywolf Press in 2003 as the winner of the Cave Canem Poetry Prize. She received degrees from Harvard and Columbia universities and a Stegner Fellowship from Stanford University. She recently won a Whiting Writers Award and Rona Jaffe Writers Award. She currently lives in Brooklyn, New York, and teaches at Princeton University.

The Academy of American Poets is a nonprofit organization founded in 1934 to foster appreciation for contemporary poetry and to support American poets at all stages of their careers. For over three generations, the Academy has connected millions of people to great poetry through programs such as National Poetry Month, the largest literary celebration in the world; Poets.org, the most popular site about poetry on the web, presenting a wealth of great poems, audio recordings, poet biographies, essays, and interactive discussions about poetry; the Poetry Audio Archive, capturing the voices of contemporary American poets for generations to come; American Poet, a biannual literary journal; and our annual series of poetry readings and special events. The Academy also awards prizes to accomplished poets at all stages of their careers—from hundreds of student prizes at colleges nationwide to the Wallace Stevens Award for lifetime achievement in the art of poetry. For more information, visit www.poets.org.

Graywolf Press is an independent, not-for-profit publisher dedicated to the creation and promotion of thoughtful and imaginative contemporary literature essential to a vital and diverse culture. The Press has published significant books of poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, and translations for over thirty years, and has become one of the leading literary publishers in the country. Graywolf was founded in 1974 in Port Townsend, Washington, as a publisher of poetry, moved to its current location in Saint Paul, Minnesota, in 1985, and expanded its lists to include fiction, nonfiction, and translation. Poetry has always remained at the heart of the Press. For more information, please visit our web site: www.graywolfpress.org.